Short, sinewy and swift, Sami arrived in international cricket with the onerous task of establishing himself in a world-class Pakistan attack comprising Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram.

He immediately grabbed eyeballs with a five-wicket haul on Test debut against New Zealand, and an ODI hat-trick 11 months into his international career. Thereafter, his international career never fully took flight, but he has continued to make strides in domestic cricket and, in recent years, franchise T20 cricket, where he snared his fifth career hat-trick, in the 2019 PSL on Friday, 22 February.

On the occasion of his 38th birthday, we revisit each of those hat-tricks.

Pakistan v West Indies, 2nd ODI, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 2001-02

Pakistan failed to bat out their 50 overs, but a dazzling Shoaib Malik century had given them 232 runs to defend. West Indies were cruising at 101 for 1 after 14 overs of their reply, when Chris Gayle fell to Akhtar. Sami struck for the first time to dismiss Runako Morton in the 23rd over, as West Indies suffered a full-blown collapse, losing six wickets for 80 runs.

At 181 for 7, with Ridley Jacobs, the last recognised batsman, at the crease, West Indies were in for a scrap. Sami shut it out with three wickets off successive balls in the 35th over. He trapped Jacobs leg before and hit timber against Corey Collymore and Cameron Cuffy to hand Pakistan their ninth successive win in ODIs.

Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Asian Test Championship final, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 2001-02

Three weeks after the West Indies heroics, Pakistan were in the trench, facing a massive first-innings deficit against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship final at Lahore. Asked to bat first, Pakistan folded for 234 before a double-century from Kumar Sangakkara drove Sri Lanka into a massive lead. Into the 140th over of the Sri Lankan innings, on came Sami, playing just his third Test, with figures of 1 for 119 in 36 overs.

Hashan Tillakaratne, the last remaining batsman, turned the strike over in the second ball of the over. It gave Sami a shot at the Sri Lankan lower order and he wiped them out in three balls, pinning Charitha Buddhika in front of the stumps, and taking out Nuwan Zoysa and Muttiah Muralitharan for first-ball ducks. Sri Lanka ended with a 194-run first-innings lead and went on to win the Test by eight wickets.

Duronto Rajshahi v Dhaka Gladiators, Bangladesh Premier League 2012, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, MirpurRajshahi stumbled to 144/9 in their 20 overs, but the Gladiators chase never gathered steam. Imran Nazir held firm with an unbeaten half-century at the top, but the rest of the order scratched around. Sami came on to bowl the final over with 20 to defend.

The well-set Nazir turned the strike over first ball, and Sami struck with the next three. Darren Stevens backed away to one that seared in sharply and smashed into the stumps. Aftab Ahmed was castled by another in-swinger, staying well outside the line and aiming for a big leg-side swipe. Finally, Naved-ul-Hasan swung at a length ball that hit the top of his middle stump. Not only was it the first hat-trick in the BPL, Sami also became the first man to snare one in all three formats.

Karachi Whites v Lahore Blues, National T20 Cup 2018-19, Multan Cricket Stadium

As in some of the earlier games in this list, the opposition’s lower order had no answer to Sami’s pace. After Awais Zia and Shoaib Malik powered Whites to 179/6, Rahat Ali ripped through the middle order to derail the Blues chase. At 141/7, a Blues win was unlikely. Sami made that a certainty with three wickets off successive balls in the 19th over. Mohammad Irfan and wicket-keeper Farhan Khan were castled, before Aizaz Cheema fell lbw, as Whites moved one step closer to the semi-finals.

Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi, PSL 2018-19, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Captaining the defending champions, Sami helped breathe life into a slow Islamabad United season by sending Peshawar Zalmi crashing to a 12-run defeat in the last over. Coming on to bowl with 19 to defend, Sami slipped in a low full toss first ball to Wahab Riaz, who duly dispatched it over the wide long-on boundary.

Sami hit back with his next ball, however, when a dying cover drive was held by Sahibzada Farhan. Umaid Asif swung at his first ball and made meaty connection only to pick out long-off. With the pressure on, Hasan Ali went for it next ball – a wide delivery outside off – but couldn’t find a way past cover, where Farhan grabbed another chance, giving Sami his maiden PSL hat-trick.